An apparatus of this kind is described in UK Patent Specification No. 1 209 457. This apparatus comprises a cutting member in the form of a fast moving band saw and a loin holding device in which a loin of meat to be cut is placed. The loin can be pushed along the loin holding device by a member provided with a handle towards the vertical plane containing the blade. The loin holding device is mounted for translation parallel to the vertical plane of the blade so that the blade can cut part of the loin extending from the loin holding device.
This apparatus has operated satisfactorily for many years, at least for cutting frozen joints. At present, for cutting fresh loins a free standing band saw is used. The loin is first cut, using a knife, as far as the bone at intervals along the loin determining the chop width. The loin is then presented to the bandsaw with the main part of the loin and the chop to be cut pulled apart so that the band saw is used to sever the bone only. However, this practice is no longer acceptable under new Health and Safety guidelines which specify that during operation the operator's hands must not come close to the blade. The requirement that an operator's hands must be safeguarded from a moving band saw has ramifications on the quality of chop which can be produced. With a free standing band saw, the cutting area around the band saw is open and the meat does not, or only minimally, come into contact with the band saw. The surfaces of the newly cut chop are hence relatively clean and can be delivered immediately in a form suitable for packing.
If, in accordance with the new Health and Safety Guidelines the band saw is enclosed, the conventional practice of precutting the loin and then severing the bone cannot be carried out. Instead the leading and cut surfaces of the loin are forced into contact with abutment surfaces. Hence, fat, grease and bone residue is caused to adhere to the chops which renders them unsuitable for immediate packing.
It is desirable to provide chop cutting apparatus in which the band saw is enclosed but which nevertheless produces "clean" chops, i.e. chops of a quality suitable or nearly suitable for immediate packing. In this connection "quality" refers to the cleanliness of the chop and not to any inherent characteristics of the loin.